Live_Steam_Mad

I attempted to make it, I got as far a 40 mins down the M6 and then the car died on me and I've had to be recovered back to home. Sucks. This is the 2nd time this car has died on me. I am tempted to replace it with a Ford Transit Van.

For those that did make it, let us know how it goes. Pix would be nice.

Best Regards.

On 04/07/2022 at 21:23, Ags said:

It's sooooooooo dark there! No advice, but I enjoyed a very simple trip - we went to the south-west of the island and mostly stayed around the hotel. Nevertheless, lots of good observing.

Hi, which Hotel did you stay at? Any recommendations for which room number? lol

Regards,

Al

Yep, I got same pitch as last time, 3b. Best wishes to you all.

Regards,

Alistair G.

4 hours ago, LandyJon said:

I can recommend the Vango 350 Omega, several of us have or have had them and they're a sturdy tent big enough for 1 with space and to sit on a camp chair in the porch.

1st try ...

Then I learnt about airbeds being a big volume of trapped air that never warms up so either insulate yourself from it or get a proper camp bed ...

Much better with a down sleeping bag too.

I have a caravan now so I might sell the camp bed, only used a couple times, I'll double check how much it cost if your interested ?

Which thermoelectric cooler box is that? Brand? Model?

I also use a "bed chair", mine is an Advanta Endurance 6 leg one from Angling Direct, and is marvellous, but I use it to lie on for visual use with binoculars, and it's wet through with dew or frozen when I'm finished observing!

Regards,

Alistair

11 hours ago, Richard N said:

The fun continued last night. We had sun and showers all day and the early evening was much the same. Lots of running in and out with telescopes. We enjoyed Jupiter and some doubles with Clives’s Starfield 102. With the ST80 I was thrilled to see both galaxies of Bodes Nebulae - I have only ever seen one before.

However, my best observation was M110. I have lost count of how many times I have looked for this galaxy over the last couple of years but this was the night. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was very faint but it was there. I asked Clive if I could borrow his Morpheus 12.5 and that brought it from an averted view object to a direct object. Nice! Too wet for sketching unfortunately. 

I then started hopping to the Blue Snowball Nebula but the sky went black, the stars disappeared and the rain resumed. We gave up at that point. An amusing evening. 
 

Given the conditions I was rather glad that I brought the ST80 rather than the 8 inch Dob. I can only run with one of those scope options. 

M110 and M32 are pretty bright and large in a 12" SCT, with the dust lane showing in the main Galaxy quite easily. Weight is 18Kg for the tube, but I lift it onto the mount using my chair! You could keep such a thing set up and ready to go on an EQ6 mount, and tie a cover around the OTA with a thin nylon rope and then it will withstand some 40+ MPH winds no problem, and any amount of rain (admittedly needs a dew shield adding when observing starts, and heater band). Just a thought. I tried a 4" APO in Bortle 2 near Aberdaron, but the sky there was so amazing that the scope got left alone for the vast majority of the time and I used 50mm aperture bins instead... but for lesser skies I find I need tracking, aperture, a sitting position, chair, and GOTO, and a very dim phone screen now and again running Sky Safari.

I'd love to come along and join you, and I usually go to several Starcamps in the year. This coming year (2024) I am thinking of giving Brecon Astrocamp a miss though as it's very far to drive to (nearly 4 hours) for just 3 nights. So I am looking at other options.

Alistair G.

I know about it. I am from the Liverpool AS and I am based in St.Helens also. I hope to be attending this event.

26 minutes ago, mistuk said:

Hi all - sorry to gatecrash! I’ve seen Justyn comment on this event on FB - I’ve only ever been to Astrocamp before and know Justyn from there - could I have some more info about it? Are there visual observers as well as imagers, and could you let me know about any additional costs over and above the camp fees?

Many thanks

Kevin

Hi, I've been to one SWAG event at Pencelli a couple of years ago and I was a pure visual observer, and so were the 3 guys there with large Newtons. I used a 12" Meade SCT on EQ6-R and the view of M1 Crab Nebula from Pencelli was particularly good, despite the level of Light Pollution from Brecon, maybe I had a particularly transparent night. If this year's event didn't co-incide with another event that I am already booked for, I would have attended. We put black bags over the camp lights and switched off the floodlight that lit up the tree, then the view was good.

Regards,

Alistair G.

I'm booked in on the same pitch as last Autumn, pitch # 20b.

Ahh, Kielder Spring Starcamp 2023 is on at that time, so I'll be at Kielder, as I'm booked in for that event.

Regards.

These April dates unfortunately clash with Brecon Astrocamp Spring 2023 that I usually book for.

Regards,

Alistair G.

On 25/10/2022 at 14:42, mapstar said:

Unfortunately the March dates clash with Galloway star party which I've already booked. Hopefully their will be a good turn out. 

Also it clashes with Kielder Spring Starcamp 2023, which I am already booked for.

Regards,

Alistair G.

2 pies for me please, like I mentioned.

Best Regards,

Alistair G.

Would La Palma (Airport code SPC) be a better choice than Tenerife?

Regards,

AG

Yep a 3 hours 45 mins journey for me, if my car lasts that long (electrical faults, due to be repaired on 28th Sept., but "working" for now, sometimes reluctant to start etc).

AG

I'll be bringing 12" ACF on EQ6-R, and Hubble Optics UL16, but don't expect too much from the latter, it's been problematic so far and I haven't used it much.

Regards,

Alistair G.

Well I finally got my hands on a new-to-me (old!) Ford C-Max, so I will hopefully be able to get to Brecon Autumn Astrocamp at Cwmdu.

Regards,

AG

2 hours ago, Pixies said:

Just seen this. I'll be driving down from Edinburgh and passing by your way. I'll be in a campervan, so will have some room for you and kit.

I can offer a lift - although I would be uncomfortable if you were solely relying on me. This spring I had to leave a day early due to family emergencies, which might still be a risk.

Hi thanks for the offer and I am doing my best to obtain a used Ford C-Max for under 3 grand locally as a replacement car. I'd rather be independent if I can. The C-Max should have a load of room in it. Tip for anyone coming Astrocamping in future, don't buy a small car lol.

Regards,

AG

Bad news (for me). My car failed MOT and now I can't drive it. Sub frame is corroded badly in 3 places and is an engine-out job to fix it, and there are other faults like wheel bearing needs replacing (another one), and it's now way uneconomical to repair it. So, basically car is dead and I can't go to Dalby StarFest, or Astrocamp, at the moment. I'm now looking for a used VW Caddy !

Regards,

AG

If the pies are meat and potatoe or steak then you can put me down for 2 pies. Thanks.

Regards,

AG

16 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Anyone else going to this? I know one other from SGL but since I don't do FB, I don't know if any members are going.

Wow it's a good job you mentioned it, I missed the opening of the bookings, so I just grabbed pitch 20b, on the Lower field, near to the Common area, with Electric Hook Up. I am going to try and bring my Hubble Optics UL16.

Best Regards,

Alistair G.

35 minutes ago, Mike Q said:

I am considering a Hubble Optics F5 16 inch.  What was your buying experience like, general overall impressions and just how much of a step up is it from the GSO/Synta scopes do you think it is.

The buying experience was very good and easy. Just click on the buy button, and pay with Paypal a 50 per cent deposit on the cost of the scope. Then you will be contacted by Tong Liu at Hubble Optics and you will be given a confirmation. Then wait around 3 months and then you will get a notification from Tong that your scope is ready and that you have to pay the balance of the scope cost, and you will also be asked about the optional accessories that you would like, if any, and you will then be given an electronic invoice including the postage cost and you pay that again with Paypal and then your scope is shipped within a couple of days and you then wait about 2 weeks for it to be delivered. UPS will then contact you and then invoice you for the VAT and import duty, you pay it using a phone line and credit card, and then you receive your scope.

Overall quality of the scope (materials, construction) is rather good, but the scope's engineering is incomplete and I have had problems with it. See this update I did on Cloudynights ;-

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/662732-hubble-optics-ul-16-an-in-depth-review/page-5#entry11928091

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/662732-hubble-optics-ul-16-an-in-depth-review/page-5#entry11954974

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/662732-hubble-optics-ul-16-an-in-depth-review/page-5#entry12006712

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/662732-hubble-optics-ul-16-an-in-depth-review/page-5#entry12007732

I am currently making a counterweight balance system for it, like Richard Walker did (Dakota Starry Nights).

Regards,

AG.

Hi, I have a 2022 production UL16 F4.5.

The struts for the Upper Truss Assembly are held together at the top simply by means of leaving the Knob Screw and wing nut in placce, so they don't come apart when I put the UTA ring in the struts

I see that there have been several changes since HO made your scope. On my scope the glue for the formica strips has apparently now been changed it seems? (the glue on mine is yellow in color).

To follow your numbering scheme for the bugs ;-

1) The threaded bar coming out of the feet is now shorter and doesn't stick up above the Az bearing more than 1mm or so when the feet are all the way in, I still used 2 M6 washers between the wing nut and foot (on the other side of the wing nut than you had them) to make sure that nothing sticks out above the Az bearing

2) I ordered 10 pcs "Stainless Steel Compression Springs Spring Ø1.5mm Wire , OD Ø10-25mm, L=10-200mm", Wire diameter(dmm): 1.5,
Outer diameter(Dmm): 12, Length(Lmm): 20 from Ebay. The stock springs are 1.2mm wire diameter (thickness). If these are not strong enough, I will order 2mm thick ones. For now I am using the stock springs, and will tighten my collimation lock screws so that the springs do not compress, and I will collimate at 45 degrees

3) The secondary mirror holder has been greatly modified and you no longer have to glue on the secondary mirror. However the holder is too small for the 80mm Minor Axis secondary and I added washers to the secondary holder body mating disc which is the "accepted solution", but I still needed to drill and tap an M3 hole about 3mm from the existing one otherwise my M3 screw didn't go in

4) The 8x50 finder now focusses independently for the cross hair (at the back) and the image (at the front), mine is the variable illuminated finder from HO that works great

5) My finder doesn't seem to slip at all. It has Nylon tipped steel screws in the bracket. Mine is a high rise bracket supplied as standard when you order the optional 8x50 illuminated finder

HO now supplies a mirror cover as an optional extra, it's about 4mm thick hard-ish plastic

Mine was supplied with Alt bearing struts from HO, to do the same thing as your DIY struts.

HO have added an Az brake for sticktion (and mechanical resistance) control

You line up the 2 parts of the Alt bearing whilst you have them lying on the Teflon pad on the Rocker box, that gets rid of any "bump". The design of the ends of the Alt bearing halves has also been altered to prevent a bump happening, they are now joined by a plate.

My primary mirror has it's central spot exactly at the middle as far as I can measure with a plastic ruler.

I am at the point of cable tie'ing and Velcro'ing the HO SkyHub2 Wireless DSC encoder system into the Rocker box (base), first light will hopefully come soon.

Best Regards,

AG

2 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

Bresser Germany is usually kind enough to send spares out - does anyone understand why they fail and, obviously, there's no alternative. What exactly is its function - would we know if we didn't use the bg filter?

The BG38 Blue Glass filter is there to filter out the IR. I wouldn't recommend removing it, or else it would become a safety issue incase someone looked through it. They fail because BG38 gets "Glass Disease". No joke. Apparently.

Regards.

Hi, can I ask please, what happened to the original Peak Star Party? 

And is there any chance of having another little gathering any time soon for a Star Party at this same place as you went to Wookie? I would be eager to attend. Anything to get away from these bright orange skies where I am in St.Helens.

Best Regards,

AG

Any progress on this matter yet? Anything to report of interest about it? I'd love to know what's happening

Regards.